Election 2008
ELECTORAL COLLEGE
The Electoral College consists of the popularly elected representatives (electors) who formally elect the President and Vice President of the United States. Since 1964, there have been 538 electors in each presidential election.[1] Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the Constitution specifies how many electors each state is entitled to have and that each state's legislature decides how its electors are to be chosen. U.S. territories are not represented in the Electoral College. The Electoral College is an example of an indirect election.
Electoral Votes for the presidential election: Each state has a certain number of electoral votes. The more people that live in your state-the more electoral votes your state gets. (Can you see why candidates would spend a lot of time in California, New York, and Texas?) In 48 of the states, the candidate that gets the most votes gets all the electoral votes for that state. Nebraska and Maine do not follow the winner-take-all rule, there could be a split of electoral votes among candidates through a proportional allocation of votes. The first candidate to win 270 electoral votes becomes the President.
- For more on the electoral college visit the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration.
- Visit the U.S. National Archives page "How Many Votes do States Get?"
- Try out the Electoral College Calculator at OpinionJournal.com.
PARTY PLATFORMS
The National Platform is an official statement of a political party's position on a wide variety of issues. Each issue category included in the Platform is a "plank." A new Platform is adopted every four years by both the Democratic and Republican parties.
- Compare the platforms at Christianity Today.
- Read the 2008 Republican Platform at The American Presidency Project website.
- Read the 2008 Democratic Party Platform at The American Presidency Project website.
- View all current and previous party platforms (including third parties).
CANDIDATES and ISSUES
- View your congresstional candidates at C-SPAN.org
Scroll down to view your state's race.
- From JohnMcCain.com
- From BarackObama.com
- Compare the candidates views on the issues at The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life
- View the candidates' votes and positions on the issues at Traditional Values Coalition
PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES
Presidential debates: The central focus of a presidential debate should be to provide voters with information they need to measure the suitability of the candidates for the White House.
- Watch the Civil Forum on the Presidency at YouDecide2008.com or at SaddlebackCivilForum.com
- Visit the Commission on Presidential Debates library to view Presidential Debate History.
- Watch the three Presidential Debates or the Vice Presidential Debate at YouDecide2008
BALLOT MEASURES
Anything that appears on a ballot other than a candidate running for office is called a ballot measure. Ballot measures are broken down into two distinct categories - initiatives (or propositions) and referendums.
- Initiative - Citizens, collecting signatures on a petition, place advisory questions, memorials, statutes (laws) or constitutional amendments on the ballot for the citizens to adopt or reject. "Initiative" refers to newly drafted legislation submitted directly to a popular vote as an alternative to adoption by a state legislature. Twenty-four states have the initiative process.
- Referendum - In many of the same states the citizens have the referendum process - the ability to reject laws or amendments proposed or already passed by the state legislature.
The terms above are all forms of "direct democracy" practiced by various states. In a direct democracy, all citizens, without the intermediary of elected or appointed officials, can participate in making public decisions. Ballot measures are a form of direct democracy practiced by many states in the U.S.
Read more about ballot measures (initiatives and referendums) at the Initiative and Referendum website iandrinstitute.org.
View of map of the types of ballot measures states have at iandrinstitute.org/statewide_i%26r.htm.
Does your state practice direct democracy through the ballot measure process?
CONSERVATIVE vs. LIBERAL BELIEFS
- View StudentNewsDaily's "Conservative vs. Liberal Beliefs" chart
StudentNewsDaily - ARTICLES ON THE CANDIDATES
- Second Opinions (Topic: healthcare)
Obama and McCain say they can cure what ails American health care...
- Making the Grade? (Topic: education)
Barack Obama and John McCain try to convince Americans that their vastly different education proposals would pass instead of fail...
- The Weathermen (Topic: global warming)
Obama and McCain both think they can curb climate change, but their environmental policies are not identical...
- Prize Fighters (Topic: presidential debates)
As the candidates prepare to go toe-to-toe in debates, history says a lot is at stake...
- Ballot Business (Topic: ballot measures and referendums)
An overview of hot-button measures across the nation...
- Polar Opposites (Topic: judicial nominees)
When it comes to judicial philosophy, McCain and Obama could not be further apart...
- Hot Button Issues on Election Ballot in Many States (Topic: ballot measures and referendums)
Though the presidential race is front and center in most voters' minds, state ballots have various initiatives
